%%%%PUBLIC SERVICE REMINDER: This is an AudienceReaction%%your "justifications", "however" or Natter don't matter on somebody's else's AudienceReaction%%LEAVE THEM OFF, PLEASE%%If something's blatantly wrong, just remove it.%%Comic book storylines can get outlandish at times, but [[ItMakesSenseInContext there's usually a sensible explanation]] for characters' behavior, [[MagicAIsMagicA based on the universe they're in]]. [[WhatAnIdiot Not so with these entries, though.]]

Works with their own pages:* WhatAnIdiot/AvatarTheLastAirbender* WhatAnIdiot/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW* WhatAnIdiot/SonicTheHedgehog

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[[folder: X-Books]] * ''Comicbook/XFactor'': The problem is evident from the outset. ComicBook/JeanGrey comes back from the dead without her telepathy and finds that not only are her old teammates at loose ends and [[TheMentor Charles Xavier]] missing; but BigBad ComicBook/{{Magneto}} [[HeelFaceTurn was running the latter's school]], the ComicBook/XMen were wanted outlaws, and Mutants [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer had a worse rep than ever]]. When she gets the old gang together they decide to gather young mutants themselves to train them in safety and away from dangerous influences, but they do not have a Cerebro unit or a telepath to use it.\\'''You'd expect:''' Beast and Angel (who, incidentally, have been outed for ''years'' in '''comic book time''') would use the former's [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avengers]] contacts and the latter's massive fortune to start up a massive public relations blitz of [=PSAs=] along the lines of "Are you Different? Are your children? Call us, we can help." while opening up a nice day-camp/compound well away from [[CityOfAdventure New York]] if security is an issue.\\'''Instead:''' They go undercover as a commercial mutant hunting crew that could be summoned to capture and 'cure' dangerous mutants with menacing powers, complete with an HQ in the BigApplesauce. Sure you might beat the real lynch mobs to them, but how many will go underground rather than come to you? Please note that Worthington was backing this with his own money, and the world knows he is a [[FantasticRacism Mutie]], so this is a P.R. disaster waiting to happen, considering how many will be digging from every angle.** And, in the same book: Cyclops, having retired from superheroing, is having difficulties with his marriage. Then he gets a phone call telling him the girl he used to be in love with has just come back from the dead.\\'''You'd expect:''' That he'd sit down with his wife and explain what's just happened, reassure her that he's determined to make the marriage work, then ask her to come with him to meet the woman he used to date who is also one of his oldest friends. Sure, it would be tense and awkward and might fuel further arguments, but it would still be better than...\\'''Instead:''' He makes vague excuses about how he has to go, then runs out in the middle of an argument and doesn't call for two weeks. By which time his wife and baby son have been kidnapped by supervillains. Whoops. And by the time she reappears, [[ComicBook/{{Inferno}} she's turned evil and is trying to destroy Manhattan by using their son as a human sacrifice.]] Double whoops.* In the early days of the Claremont/Byrne run on X-Men, our heroes find themselves stranded in Antarctica. They decide to cross the Drake Passage to South America and work their way home.\\'''You'd Think:''' They would send ComicBook/{{Storm}}, who can fly, control the weather, and is a superb thief, on ahead to negotiate for or steal transportation for them.\\'''Instead:''' They try to cross the Drake Passage... ON A RAFT.\\'''Also:''' They end up in Japan. Yeah. (No, the raft doesn't make it all the way across the Pacific, they get picked up by a Japanese ship on a never-elaborated-on "secret mission" that won't drop them off anywhere else or allow them to communicate with the outside world until they reach Japan.)** Also during this exact same time. Cyclops and the X-Men get separated from Beast and Jean Grey after a battle with Magneto in Antarctic and each side presumes the other is dead. Jean returns to New York, and breaks the news to Professor X.\\'''You'd expect''' The Professor to immediately get on Cerebro. The powerful device that allows him to telepathically locate mutants from all over the planet, and double check just to make sure.\\'''Instead''' He automatically believes Jean even though she never even saw a body. Makes no on-panel attempt or even mention of using Cerebro to search for them, and then leaves the planet entirely with Lilandra.\\'''The Result''' The X-Men spend the next several issues on a months long misadventure to get back to New York. During which time, Banshee burns out his powers saving Japan from an Earthquake. And Jean ends up brainwashed by Mastermind into joining the Hellfire Club, resulting in ComicBook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga, the extermination of an entire alien world, and Jean Grey supposedly dying. Not to mention all of the mess in the first entry. All because Chuck couldn't take five minutes to use a freaking computer. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Breaking It, Professor.]]* In ''ComicBook/NewXMenAcademyX'' (the one written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost), the X-Men have decided to form a new team of trainees to fight alongside them. However, one of the possible recruits is [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless]] {{Tykebomb}} ComicBook/{{X 23}}, who can be forced to enter an uncontrollable berserker rage if exposed to a particular scent. ComicBook/EmmaFrost, one of the new team's teachers, is understandably worried by this and considers X-23 a danger to the other students.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Emma to talk to the other teachers and try to persuade them to get X-23 away from the school. Even though the other X-Men dislike Emma, they'd almost certainly listen to her, being ReasonableAuthorityFigure[=s=] who don't want to see their students slaughtered. (And it's not like they don't have the resources to set X-23 up somewhere else, somewhere she wouldn't threaten mutantkind simply by existing.)\\'''Instead:''' Emma goes [[WellIntentionedExtremist psychotic]] and decides to invade X-23's mind with her telepathy, mentally [[MindRape scream at the girl that she's a monster,]] tormenting X-23 with images of her dead [[MoralityPet mother]], and tries to intimidate her into submission, by, oh yes, ''directly attacking her mental health and violating her most basic freedoms.'' There is '''no way''' [[BullyingADragon that]] could have ended well. And it didn't- X-23 became even more closed off and violent because of this, and her self-esteem (as well as the tenuous trust she had in the X-Men) was shattered. And no, she does not leave the school.** In the same series, Prodigy is brutally tortured during a mission. For various reasons, he and the other students decide to keep this secret from Surge, his girlfriend.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That they'd get together and agree on a cover story to use when Surge asks about the mission.\\'''Instead:''' They don't, and Surge quickly realizes that they're lying. Then she goes to [[BrutalHonesty X-23]], [[NoSocialSkills who describes the incident to her very graphically]] (not knowing that her teammates wanted to keep it secret).** Still with ''New X-Men'', during the "Return to Limbo" arc, Belasco the sorcerer has tried bringing back ComicBook/IllyanaRasputin after M-Day, only for her to escape. Belasco decides she's gone back to the X-Men, and promptly drags everyone in the mansion to Limbo so he can find her.\\'''You'd expect:''' That as a powerful magic-wielder he'd use his powers on the X-Men, ask if they've seen or heard anything about Illyana, and send them back when he's done.\\'''Instead:''' He goes for the New X-Men instead, violently torturing and killing them when they have no idea who this Illyana person is in the first place. Because of all this, the New X-Men fight back, giving the recreated Illyana the chance to show up and kick Belasco's ass and take control of Limbo for herself.* ''X-23'' (the limited series): Julian's friend ([[WillTheyOrWontThey and not-]][[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend girlfriend]]) has left with no warning to go travel the world. After waiting for a bit, he goes to find Laura and [[LoveConfession confess his feelings]] to her; the two meet up in New York and have adventures. However, Laura seems reluctant to talk to him, and changes the subject whenever romance comes up.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Julian to treat her respectfully and openly ask her whether or not she reciprocates his feelings. [[SugarAndIcePersonality Laura]] isn't the sort of person who'd laugh at him or try to string him along, and he knows that she [[DarkAndTroubledPast dislikes being treated as if she]] [[BornIntoSlavery has no thoughts or free will]].\\'''Instead:''' Julian gets frustrated and insults Laura, calling her [[EmotionlessGirl heartless]] and scornfully implying that she's in a relationship with [[TheMentor Gambit]]. This prompts Laura [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere to turn and walk off]] once the mission is completed, so Julian grabs her and [[ForcefulKiss forcefully kisses]] her. This effectively ruins any affection Laura had for him, as well as making her even more opposed to dating Julian than she already was.* ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'': Hijack, a newly awakened mutant, is recruited into Cyclops' team of rebellious X-Men. He is told that nobody is allowed to have phones, since if he uses it, ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} can use it to track the team down.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Hijack to ''leave the phone behind''. Even if he was caught off guard when rescued by the X-Men, Magik is a teleporter who could easily ditch the phone for him.\\'''Instead:''' Hijack brings it with him because he can't break his contract (that's literally the only reason he gives)... Later, Magik teleports the students to an unknown location ([[SecretTestOfCharacter without telling them why]]), and the rest of the students immediately figure out that the teachers are testing/training them. Hijack decides to use Google Maps to find out where they are even after the rest of the students repeat the rule to him and why it exists. His reply? S.H.I.E.L.D. can use it to track them down and get them out of there. S.H.I.E.L.D., of course, tracks the team down, and brings some Avengers with them.\\'''Worse Still:''' During the stand-off with the ComicBook/SecretAvengers, Magik teleports the team back. Cyclops says Hijack completely failed the test. He tries to defend himself by saying [[InsaneTrollLogic his powers helped them against S.H.I.E.L.D]]. Of course, Cyke calls him out on the stupid logic.* ''ComicBook/AdjectivelessXMen'' has the final fight with Arkea, a badass villain who has been built up as so dangerous that even John Sublime is scared of her. Arkea is able to escape into electrical grids, among other things.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Arkea to build her base around or on top of a power grid.\\'''Instead:''' Her home is nowhere near a power grid, and she's quickly taken out by the X-Women.[[/folder]]

* ComicBook/DoctorDoom: In his OriginStory, he's a college student, aiming with a private project to open a portal to hell. That cursed Reed Richards, who was passing by, points several mistakes in his formulas. Doom shows him the door.\\'''You'd expect:''' That, once Richards is gone and nobody will take undue credit for his project, Dr. Doom would check again the formulas, to confirm if they are right indeed, or if there is some mistake to fix. If Richards ''was'' right, nobody would know it, and Doom can deny him any credit. In any case, checking and double-checking his work several times should be a must when he does a project like this all alone, even if Richards never interfered.\\'''Instead:''' Doom ignores Richards' warnings and proceeds with the experiment. It goes wrong, there is a huge explosion, and his face gets scarred beyond heal. * ComicBook/JonathanHickmansAvengers:** In ''Avengers'' #34, the Time Gem has caused the Avengers to jump uncontrollably into various times in the future. Captain America, Black Widow, and Starbrand arrive to 71st century. There the meet the apparently immortal Franklin Richards, who they know as a kid in their own time. Franklin asks Cap whether he would like to know what's causing the Incursions that threaten the Earth and the entire multiverse in the 21st century, and who's behind them?\\'''You'd expect:''' Cap to say, "Yes, please tell me all about it!" Gaining this information would be massively important, because it might allow the Avengers to stop the Incursions and save the Earth and the multiverse. Also, Cap knows that Time Gem might transfer them into the future at any time without any warning... So the time they have available in the 71st century is limited, and hence an intelligent leader like Captain America should realize this time should be spent in learning whatever they can about the Incursions.\\'''Instead:''' Cap doesn't want Franklin to answer those questions yet, instead he wants Franklin to tell him how to stop Tony Stark. Cap is angry at Tony and the Illuminati for trying to stop the Incursions through various morally questionable ways, and for erasing Cap's memory about this so he wouldn't oppose them. Franklin tells Cap he can fight the Illuminati but he can't fight fate, and that that things will only get worse if he fights them, and the Incursions will continue. Before Franklin has time to tell them anything else, the Time Gem once again transfers the Avengers away before they can learn what's causing the Incursions and who's behind them. After the Avengers return to their own time, the Incursions continue, and eventually [[spoiler:the multiverse is destroyed]]. So the information Cap got from Franklin was useless, while the information he didn't bother to get because he was so mad at Tony might've helped the Avengers to [[spoiler:save the multiverse]]. Great job, Cap!** In ''New Avengers'' #23, an Incursion is threatening to destroy the 616 universe and another universe that is coming to contact with it. This could be stopped by destroying the Earth in either of those universe, but having just seen [[spoiler:Namor do this to stop the previous incursion]], the other members of the Illuminati can't find it in themselves to do so. So they're content to just wait for their universe to be destroyed. Reed Richards gathers his family, including his two young kids, so that he's with them when everything dies.\\'''You'd expect:''' Even if he can't morally justify himself to destroy another Earth in order to save his, you'd think that Reed would at least do something to save his family. He has the knowledge and means to travel to the other universes within the multiverse. He also knows how to travel in time. So he could easily send his family to another universe, preferably one where the Earth has already been destroyed, so the Incursions don't threaten them. Or he could send his family far to the past of the 616 Earth, where they could live their full lives long before the Incursions ever start. At the very least, you'd think he would ''tell his family what is about to happen''. Even if his own moral code says he should do nothing and let everyone (including his family) die, maybe Sue doesn't feel the same way, so shouldn't be allowed to make her own choices? Maybe ''she'' would want to do anything she can to save their kids?\\'''Instead:''' Reed doesn't do anything and doesn't tell anyone about the end of the world, even when Sue keeps asking what's wrong with him. Thankfully [[spoiler:Namor once again has the backbone to do what the other Illuminati couldn't, so the two universes survive]].* ''ComicBook/UnderSiege'': The Masters of Evil have secured the mansion, have Jarvis and the Black Knight as helpless hostages, and banished Captain Marvel to a darkforce dimension. Now, thanks to Hercules' reckless Leeroy Jenkins act, they have beaten him to a pulp and almost killed him, and also defeated Captain America and the Wasp.\\'''You'd expect:''' They would keep all the defeated Avengers as their hostages (those listed were the whole regular team at the time), keep a low profile, and torture and kill them at their leisure. Nobody would know anything until it's too late.\\'''Instead:''' They let the Wasp leave, get rid of Hercules' body (who is then saved at a hospital, as he was actually Not Quite Dead), and surround the mansion with darkforce. A giant banner saying "overrun by villains" would have served just as fine. The Wasp manages to get enough reinforcements, and starts the counter-attack.* ''ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour'': It's the dramatic conclusion of [[StoryArc the arc]], and Reed Richards is squaring off against Nihil on the Vegas Strip! The tyrant opens his mouth to devour the hero, who stops him by picking up a nearby plasma rifle and wedging it in between his jaws!\\'''You'd expect:''' Nihil to do literally anything except what he actually does. ''Literally'' anything else.\\'''Instead:''' He tries to pull the gun out...[[TooDumbToLive by the trigger]]. It's... [[YourHeadASplode not pretty]].* A two-part ''ComicBook/DarkwingDuck'' comic story in ''Magazine/DisneyAdventures'': Gizmoduck is about to go pay a visit to fellow Super Power Union member Mr. Wonderful, but just as he's opening the door, he discovers that Mr. Wonderful is in fact working for F.O.W.L. when he sees him speaking with [[BigBad Steelbeak]] via videophone.\\'''You'd expect:''' Gizmoduck to get out of there without being noticed and go alert Darkwing to tell him he was right.\\'''Instead:''' Gizmoduck rushes into the room, preparing to pulverize Mr. Wonderful, who responds to his threat by calling the other members of the Union to come take care of Gizmoduck.* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' is another tale that starts out with a screwup. Two months after [[{{Gendercide}} everything on the planet with a Y chromosome drops dead out of the blue]], the son of one of the surviving congress critters shows up at the White House.\\'''You'd expect:''' The U.S. government would promptly haul Mr. Brown to the most secure place they can reach and gather whatever security/military/police people to track down the following in this order of priority: A) a competent and functioning shrink; B) whatever salvageable sperm-bank equipment that can be found, along with a reliable power source; C) any medical/biotech experts that are remotely qualified to figure out why this boy is still alive and how to duplicate it/him; and D) the guy's girlfriend, last seen in the Australian Outback.\\'''Instead:''' They send the guy, escorted by '''''one''''' [[ActionGirl secret agent sort]], to a cloning expert that was last seen in Boston before everything went to heck. Supposedly they were convinced by his arguments concerning being too easy to locate if he were in one spot, even the mother who was probably aware he was pretty hung up on this Beth person.* Spider-Man tends to be framed for various stories. Sometimes it's an average story, others it's for a storyline, but it's occurred quite a bit in his career.\\'''You'd expect:''' The citizens of the city would recall "Hey, Spider-Man's been framed before. For all we know, those crimes could have been committed by Mysterio or The Chameleon."\\'''Instead''': Civilians alike go straight to the accusation.* The much-maligned ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' arc of ComicBook/SpiderMan involved Aunt May in a coma, after being shot by a gunman following Peter Parker revealing himself to be Spider-Man. Spidey has asked practically every magical/technological superhero he can find to save his aunt's life, [[ReedRichardsIsUseless many claiming that they either can't or it would be wrong to do so.]] In a seance, Aunt May revealed that she accepts her death.\\'''You'd expect:''' Peter to realize that ''maybe the entire elite cadre of the Marvel universe (including, by the way, a character who was quite obviously intended to be a representation of '''the Judeo-Christian {{God}}''') is right'', and let his elderly aunt pass on, surrounded by friends and loved ones. Peter would be hurt, but he has faced personal tragedy in the past and survived.\\'''Instead:''' He keeps grasping at straws in attempts to save his aunt's life. Eventually, the demonic villain Mephisto shows up and offers Pete a deal; he'll save Aunt May's life, if Peter and MJ agree to let reality be warped so that they would never be married.\\'''You'd expect:''' that after being told by a guy who's pretty much a Comics Code-friendly stand-in for Satan that ''destroying Peter and MJ's marriage would make him very, very happy '''and potentially lead to him being able to take Peter's soul in a future deal''''', Peter would realize the danger of making a DealWithTheDevil, and refuse.\\'''Instead:''' Spidey accepts.\\'''What's Worse:''' The deal involves sacrificing Peter and MJ's unborn child. Aunt May would never have sacrificed a ''baby'' to save herself.* In the Dragon Slayer volume of ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'', Phoney Bone, sets up a scam to exploit the townspeople's paranoia of dragons by claiming to be a Dragon Slayer as the title implies.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That the after cow race incident, the townsfolk would actually start thinking and realize that Phoney is full of crap.\\'''Instead:''' They take him up on his "offer" and pay him riches. Not one of them, save for [[OnlySaneMan Lucius]], bothers to question him despite the fact that he doesn't bother even looking for a dragon. Not to mention that just the way he introduced his dragon slaying business should have been enough to alert at least one person. Perhaps it was because everyone in the room was drunk.\\'''What's Worse:''' His name is PHONEY. LITTERALY. HIS NAME IS LITERALLY A SYNONYM FOR "FRAUD". [[spoiler: Okay, to be fair, Phoney [[HiddenDepths redeems himself and proves that he can be a hero too later at the end because he loves his family]], but still, It's not easy to trust someone who's name is a synonym for "lie".]]'''The Result:''' Phoney leads the town people off to hunt the completely non-malevolent dragon, (not actually even planning to slay the dragon, only to slip away and return to Boneville.) and the quite malevolent Rat Creatures attack the unguarded village. To be fair, Phoney DID unintentionally save half of the village because he led said half away from the village to hunt the dragon, so it's not as bad as it could've been.* One ''Franchise/{{Superman}}[=/=]Franchise/{{Batman}}'' team-up featured Doctor Light trying to take down Superman with a magic wand, explaining that apparently ComicBook/{{Zatanna}}'s magic has... something to do with light, nobody's really sure what.\\'''You'd expect:''' He'd place the wand in his hand, point it at Superman, and kill him with it, since Superman isn't strong against magic. Having done this, he'd nuke Batman, thereby removing two of the most dangerous Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} members.\\'''Instead:''' He somehow gives Superman a secondary personality who believes that Superman is trying to kill him. This second personality duly hires a group of backstreet assassins to take out Superman with the Satanstaff, which [[PlotHole has somehow found itself at the North Pole]]. When it looks like it's going to work, Light comments that he used this kind of tactic because he personally is incredibly inept and if he tried the "sensible" way of doing it, he'd lose. For additional idiocy, he expected the crooks' Split-Personality hired to hand over the Satanstaff to him, despite having used it to take down both Superman and Batman.* Mongul has just defeated Arkillo in a fistfight and now has a good portion of the [[Characters/GLSinestroCorps Sinestro Corps]] under his command.\\'''You'd expect:''' He would take those members under his control, plus the Manhunters present, and stage a coup via numbers.\\'''Instead:''' He goes at Sinestro solo and tries to kill him. Sinestro states that he has always been prepared for potential coups and has devised failsafes, namely emergency ring control overrides, and takes control of Mongul's ring. After impaling him from virtually every angle, Sinestro imprisons him within the central power battery.** Stupidity runs in the family. In ''ComicBook/UnderworldUnleashed'', the demon Neron has gathered villains from all over and offering them their heart's desire in exchange for their souls. One of them is Mongul Sr., who had his ass handed to him by pre-FaceHeelTurn Franchise/GreenLantern Hal Jordan and [[RookieRedRanger Rookie Green Lantern]] Kyle Rayner.\\'''You'd expect:''' Mongul to take the offer and use it to get back at Kyle and attempt at his dream of rebuilding Warworld. Or, if he doesn't want to sell his soul, just reject the offer and leave it at that. Neron allowed several super villains who refused to deal with him to go without harming them.\\'''Instead:''' He proudly boasts that he'd do no such thing and ''attacks Neron''. Neron promptly kills him for his stupidity.* During ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', a superhero named Risk was one of the many fighting Superboy-Prime. In the process, he got his right arm torn off.\\'''You'd expect:''' Risk to stay far, far away from the guy.\\'''Instead:''' The next time Prime is on Earth, he jumps out at him again with the apparent intent of punching. He promptly has his ''other'' arm torn off. It was admittedly pretty ballsy, but stupid nonetheless.* ''Comicbook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck'', Chapter 5 "The Laird of Castle [=McDuck=]:" Scrooge is called home to help his family protect their ancestral castle from their rivals, the Whiskervilles. He arrives just as his FieryRedhead sister Hortense is singlehandedly sending the would-be intruders running for their lives.\\'''You'd Expect:''' ...well, ''anything'' except unfolds here.\\'''Which is:''' Scrooge's father instructing his uncle to take "the women" -- including Hortense! -- home while he and Scrooge handle things. The Whiskervilles even make sure upon their return (when they nearly kill Scrooge) that the coast is clear because she's gone! [[StayInTheKitchen Stupid stupid chivalry]]!* In a later appearance by Superboy-Prime, he's fighting the Comicbook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} in the distant future, only to find that the Legion's greatest enemy, Time Trapper, is himself, aged centuries and now sporting a cool beard. Upon meeting, the Time Trapper insists that they need to team up to win the fight against the heroes.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Superboy-Prime to listen and obey, knowing that he had to work alongside his future self and he'd be a good source of advice and knowledge with his enhanced powers and time-altering abilities.\\'''Instead:''' Superboy-Prime angrily insists that Time Trapper isn't him and that he "looks stupid." Filled with rage, Prime [[NeverTheSelvesShallMeet punches his future self which tears a hole in time-space and sends him flying back to Earth-Prime, powerless and trapped.]] Brainiac 5 even [[LampshadeHanging quips "What an idiot" after seeing it happen.]]\\'''Also:''' Superboy-Prime's older self should probably have remembered that his younger self was unstable, easily antagonized, and prone to destructive rages. So, barging in there and barking orders makes the older Prime just as much of an idiot.\\'''At Least:''' Superboy-Prime's consistent.* In the "Absolute Power" arc of ComicBook/SupermanBatman, time-travelling villains [[MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight manage to replace the origins of Batman and Superman with new ones that turn them into tyrants]]. Eventually their memories are restored and they set out to correct the timeline. However, this involves traveling to the point where Batman's parents were murdered, and letting it happen.\\'''You'd expect:''' Superman to do this in secret, as quick as possible without Batman's knowledge.\\'''Instead:''' He goes with Batman, and fully expects him to just stand there and watch as the worst trauma of his life replays in front of him. Naturally, Batman snaps, kills Joe Chill, and saves his parents. This erases Batman from existence entirely and screws up the timeline even worse. [[SarcasmMode Good judgment call there, Clark.]]* The ComicBook/{{SHIELD}}/HAMMER kerfuffle in the Marvel Universe.\\'''You'd Think:''' That when it comes to the head of an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D, you'd ''not'' appoint someone who is openly psychotic even when ''on'' his medication, and that if for any reason this became necessary, you would at least ensure that there were reliable, sane people under him to keep things under control.\\'''Instead:''' S.H.I.E.L.D. has been disbanded, and the staff for its replacement, HAMMER, have been chosen by ComicBook/NormanOsborn, [[AxCrazy the Green Fucking Goblin]]. Who ''bombed his own arraignment hearing on live TV'', for Thor's sake. It's not even as if [[VillainWithGoodPublicity they don't know he's a psychopath!]]* More on the Goblin front is Phil Urich's discovery of a cache of Green Goblin gear.\\'''You'd Think:''' That on finding a bunch of superweapons belonging to a dead insane criminal, he would have left it alone, handed it in to the appropriate body, or sold it.\\'''Instead:''' He decided to become a superhero, despite having zero experience.\\'''Also:''' Instead of altering it in any way, even by just painting it a different color, he dressed up ''as'' the Green Goblin, and went around ''calling himself'' the Green Goblin. Now you might think that's a good way to get mistaken for a villain, making his work massively more difficult as superheroes attacked him and civilians fled him. And you'd be right. Even after hanging up the costume and gear, the chemicals in his system have recently driven him insane.* ''ComicBook/WorldWarHulk'': Comicbook/DoctorStrange brags at length about how easily he could beat Hulk.\\'''You'd expect:''' He'd smash Hulk into the ground. It's obvious that Hulk is never going to stop, and Strange has every right to defend himself with lethal force. Strange has routinely taken out enemies that make Hulk look like a ten year old girl.\\'''Instead:''' He makes himself vulnerable to Hulk and gets his hands crushed for his trouble. Then he invokes a demon weapon too powerful for him to handle, loses the battle, and eventually steps down from the title of Sorcerer Supreme.* ''Comicbook/TotallyAwesomeHulk'': Amadeus Cho (the new Hulk) has just met Lady Hellbender and her goons, and Lady H has demonstrated that she's pretty powerful (able to knock Hulk on his ass at least, and was pretty confident she could take Fin Fang Foom as well). She has stated that her hobby is finding the toughest, strongest monsters there are and adding them to her collection. However, she's unimpressed with Cho, who doesn't unleash his Hulk rage like Banner did. She even ''abandons'' him when he goes to face Foom.\\'''You'd expect:''' Hormonal teenager and hot warrior babe aside, this woman CLEARLY has a screw loose and should be kept at arms' length, if not treated as a threat outright.\\'''Instead:''' Cho becomes determined to prove to this woman that he's still the WorldsStrongestMan and curbstomps Foom while she watches. She ''immediately'' shoots him with some sort of capture device and proceeds to add him to her collection.* In ''Comicbook/NewAvengers'' #2, a breakout at the supervillain prison known as The Raft has occurred. ComicBook/SpiderMan and ComicBook/CaptainAmerica arrive on the scene. The Captain notes that a large platoon of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are on their way.\\'''You'd expect:''' Spidey to wait for the backup to arrive. They're S.H.I.E.L.D. agents trained and equipped to take down superhuman criminals and it's just he and Steve on the scene at the moment.\\'''Instead:''' Spidey takes this as his cue and rushes into The Raft alone, spouting some half-assed justification that [[HonorBeforeReason he'd feel guilty about]] [[ComesGreatResponsibility putting other people in harm's way]] by allowing them to do their jobs. What happens next can be described as Christmas come early for Spidey's rogues gallery as Count Nefaria knocks him for a loop and dumps him into a riled-up mob full of his worst enemies who proceed to unmask him, snap his arm like a twig, and take turns pounding on him until his face is a bloody half-purple mess.* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen''. In the first arc the US government finds the Savage Land (Magneto's mutant hideout) and decided to destroy it. The government has also just admitted that not all mutants are bad and the X-Men in particular are the good guys.\\'''You'd expect:'''--which means they've got a well-trained group of mutants to send in to battle Magneto.\\'''Instead:''' They sent Sentinels, {{Humongous Mecha}}s, MADE OF METAL!!! To combat freakin' Magneto. Not the Sentinels of Earth-616, which were Magneto-proofed ages ago, but regular Sentinels. Magneto even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s their stupidity, noting that any species dumb enough to send chromium machines against the "Master of Magnetism" deserves to be replaced. He reprograms the Sentinel fleet to fly back to D.C. and kill every non-mutant human they can find. This leads to a battle that nearly destroys D.C. If not for the X-Men and Quicksilver's betrayal they would have been toast.* ''Doctor Strange: The Oath''. Strange's manservant Wong is near death and Strange has retrieved an elixir which can cure any disease. That potion is currently in the hands of a CorruptCorporateExecutive who is WithholdingTheCure to protect his profits. He has just challenged Strange to a fistfight on the roof of a skyscraper. Neither of them can use magic for the next three minutes, and Doc is suffering from a near-lethal gunshot wound inflicted earlier that night.\\'''You'd expect:''' Strange, knowing every second counted, would quickly beat the man down, take the elixir, and run to help Wong.\\'''Instead:''' Strange allows the other man to pummel him for at least a minute before [[IAmNotLeftHanded he starts fighting back]]. He still wins, but in the confusion and pouring rain, the other man misjudges the edge of the roof and plummets to his death. Strange is able to recover only a single drop of the elixir, forcing him to choose between saving Wong or [[ReedRichardsIsUseless reproducing it to save the world]].* ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica:** During his time in the JSA, [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] dates Stargirl. Captain Marvel looks like he's in his late twenties, but he's [[YoungerThanTheyLook actually a sixteen-year-old]] named Billy Batson; "Captain Marvel" is just a magically induced OlderAlterEgo. Stargirl, who is also sixteen, obviously knows about Cap's secret identity, but the rest of the JSA doesn't. Jay Garrick eventually confronts Cap about it.\\'''You'd expects:''' Captain Marvel to say his magic word and reveal his true identity to Jay. Because they're teammates, you know? No harm, no foul. Plus, this is the Justice Society, they're some of the most trustworthy people in the DCU, and serve as [[MoralityPet Morality Pets]] to two generations of heroes.\\'''Instead:''' Captain Marvel says something vague about appearances being deceiving, then flies away when Jay begs for Cap's confidence. Cap then quits the JSA and breaks up with Stargirl (much to the consternation of the shippers).\\'''What's worse:''' You just ''know'' that the JSA probably now thinks that Captain Marvel is a perv. So much for the Wisdom of Solomon, eh?** ''JSA: Axis of Evil'': Kid Karnevil keeps bragging about how he's going to break out in mere minutes. The only thing keeping him locked up is a jail cell powered by Alan Scott's green magic, which only works as long as Alan is alive. Alan finds a strange wooden crate in a hallway of the temporary JSA headquarters.\\'''You'd expect:''' Alan to heed Karnevil's warnings, since the kid has already proven to be a resourceful and methodical sociopath with friends on the outside. Alan should find Mr. Terrific or someone else who could analyze the crate (just to be safe), since Alan's green magic doesn't work on wood. Alan could later be of enormous help when/if Karnevil's associates attack the JSA.\\'''Instead:''' Alan assumes Karnevil is delusional and ignores his warnings. A bomb inside the crate senses Alan's power ring. Alan gets blown up when he steps too close. He succumbs to his injuries, and surprise! Karnevil escapes.*** Later, Shadow of War starts up the Darkness Engine, powered by Obsidian (who is trapped in egg form). The machine de-powers all meta-humans within its broadcasting radius, but doesn't affect technology. Shadow of War threatens to amp up the power to lethal levels if Mr. Terrific doesn't call off his T-spheres.\\'''You'd expect:''' Mr. Terrific to break his lethal force rule (due to extraordinary circumstances) and accelerate one of his T-spheres into Shadow--or at the very least, the engine's computer--at 14 miles per second, before she can react. He had bragged about doing so in the previous story, when he battled one of Mordru's illusions. Either way, it would solve the problem, and they might even have a chance to hatch Obsidian from the egg.\\'''Instead:''' Mr. Terrific does nothing. The JSA surrenders. The Darkness Engine de-powers ALL the supers on Earth. The Fourth Reich [[BadFuture takes over the planet]]. [[KillEmAll Nearly everyone dies.]]*** The Green Lantern Corps sees what happens to Earth. They notice that Hal Jordan died after his ring was de-powered and he fell out of flight. Naturally, the Corps quickly puts a Quul-level quarantine on the planet. Secretly, they plan an invasion to stop ThoseWackyNazis and the Darkness Engine on a day when the subtraction field is dialed back and doesn't cover the whole planet.\\'''You'd expect:''' The Corps to quietly sneak some GL's (and other resistance) onto unaffected portions of the planet, and start working to destabilize the regime from within. At the very least, they could easily sneak some tech or something onto the planet to help stop the Engine. And further, they should NOT use their rings to fly, just in case the Nazis detect them, because of what happened to Hal Jordan.\\'''Instead:''' The ''entire Green Lantern Corps'' {{Zerg Rush}}es the planet from space. The Fourth Reich naturally detects this and amps up the Darkness Engine. All the GL's are depowered and drop out of the sky like rocks, and all die upon impact.* ''JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice''. Captain Marvel is turned back into Billy Batson, freeing him from possession. This happens in front of a lot of people, who are all very experienced superheroes.\\'''You'd expect:''' Everyone to put two and two together.\\'''Instead:''' Green Arrow says "Who are you? And where's Captain Marvel?" Really, Ollie? Just... really?\\'''What's Worse:''' In ''Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'', when Marvel is changed back in mid-fight, Batman's thought box says "He's just a kid. No older than Robin." I wish I could tell you I was kidding, but no. The goddamn Batman couldn't even figure it out.* ''ComicBook/SecretSix''. Yasemin, the woman who filled Deadshot's marksman position on the ComicBook/SuicideSquad, is pissed about being told that Deadshot did her job better than her and decides to engage him in a gunfight to prove that she's the better marksman.\\'''You'd expect''' her to be familiar enough with Deadshot's "don't fuck around" approach to combat and lack of patience for trivial matters and plug him the minute she gets the chance.\\'''Instead:''' Yasemin decides to challenge him to a duel; before she can even finish laying out the terms for the duel, Deadshot shoots her dead and coldly reminds her that she should have taken the first shot she had.** Not long after, Dwarfstar has Deathstroke ice Ryan Choi. Of course, he didn't realize that Giganta was his girlfriend; when she finds out, he's savagely beaten and tortured by her and ends up just barely clinging to life in a Louisiana hospital. Then Ray Palmer shows up.\\'''You'd expect''' that Dwarfstar would have been humbled enough by the experience to keep his mouth shut and not say anything. Not just because his teammate beat him to within an inch of his life, but also because Deathstroke doesn't take kindly to people who blab about hiring him.\\'''Instead:''' Dwarfstar not only flaps his lips about ordering the hit on Choi, but he's also stupid enough to tell Palmer that he hired Deathstroke to carry it out. Palmer even lampshades this by telling him that when Wilson finds out, he's going to be ''pissed''.* In ''ComicBook/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'' the U. S. government has noted that Superman is growing somewhat unstable, developing KnightTemplar tendencies, and most importantly interfering in political matters after the trauma of being manipulated into killing his wife and getting Metropolis blown up. He has also revealed his secret ID.\\'''You'd expect:''' ''IF'' they involve Jonathan and Martha Kent in any way at all, the Feds would visit them and politely ask (not insist, let alone threaten, '''ask''') if they could help talk their boy into toning it down a bit.\\'''Instead:''' They send commandos and supervillains (in particular the Mirror Master) to the Kent farm to kidnap them, and leave a message [[IHaveYourWife threatening to send pieces of them to Superman if he does not behave]]. Knowing full well that Superman and ThouShaltNotKill are no longer one and the same.** Later, Batman merges with Etrigan, defeats Superman, and puts him to sleep by using some kind of dust (likely magical).\\'''You'd expect:''' Batman captures Superman and makes a proper prison for him, also possibly taking away his powers.\\'''Instead:''' ''Batman just goes away.'' And judging that it was a backstory, Superman gets out of the sleep, continuing his reign.* [[Comicbook/IncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]] is a normal guy on the run who tries to stay away from populated areas and stress because when he gets angry, he turns into a giant monster that destroys everything in his way while screaming "Leave Hulk alone!"\\'''You'd Expect:''' ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} to provide Banner with a map of and free transport to the most deserted locations on earth, and the Army to issue warnings to anyone in Banner's vicinity not to antagonize him and keep their distance.\\'''Instead:''' The government tries to capture Banner at every available opportunity.** Connected to the above, General "Thunderbolt" Ross continually exhorts the government to give him men and equipment to wage his private war against the Hulk.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The government would realize that Ross's crusade is costing them a steady fortune and pull the plug.\\'''Instead:''' They keep pouring money into his vendetta.* ComicBook/ThePunisher is a vigilante who occasionally spends time in prison. He is one of the most lethal people on Earth, feared and hated by every criminal.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The other inmates to either avoid him or gang up in the dozens and kill him.\\'''Instead:''' A lone prisoner will try to kill him for revenge or to make his reputation, usually with no plan or weapon and ignoring the literally hundreds of other people Castle has killed in similar circumstances.* ''Comicbook/KickAss'':** Dave Lizewski wants to become a real-life superhero. After a few weeks spent walking on walls and wearing his costume under his clothes, he decides he wants to start fighting crime for real. His first attempt to do so ends [[RealityEnsues as well as you might expect]] with him getting beaten up by a trio of vandals, stabbed, and finally getting hit by a car. Ultimately he manages to survive and recover from all of this, and although he tries to give up the superhero lifestyle, he soon gets drawn back into it.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That if Dave was insistent about being a superhero, he'd try and take some martial arts/self-defense classes, or do something to give himself more chance in a fight, as soon as reasonably possible.\\'''Instead:''' He does absolutely nothing of the sort until the next series.** The Motherfucker wants revenge on Dave because of the latter's role in [[spoiler: the death of his father]]. He decides to go after the people Dave cares about.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The Motherfucker to try and limit his victims to those connected to Dave, and not cause unnecessary bloodshed.\\'''Instead:''' While going to attack Dave's crush, he and his supervillain friends massacre an entire suburb, respectively killing and injuring about 30 and 100 innocent people, including children. This results in the Motherfucker's friend [[CorruptCop Vic Gigante]] withdrawing police protection from The Motherfucker. And then, he decides to start another massacre in Times Square, seemingly for no other reason than it [[RuleOfCool sounding cool]]. Ultimately, this course of action leads to his downfall, and his actions turn him, and his secret identity, into figures of public hate.** Pointed out by Kick-Ass in Volume 2, [[spoiler:after he & Hit-Girl find out that the Mother Fucker's plan is to burn New York to the ground - Chris is asthmatic, so ''what's he going to do when he blows up all of the pharmacys & hospitals, and he needs his medication?'']] * ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' has sometimes had encounters with [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorphs]].\\'''You'd Expect:''' Superman would realize that xenomorphs sit somewhere between a highly destructive invasive species and an intergalactic plague of incurably lethal proportions and would use his NighInvulnerability, SuperStrength and EyeBeams to destroy them wherever he finds them \\'''Instead:''' He averts WhatMeasureIsANonHuman and tries to let them live, fighting non-lethally if he can and even attempting to prevent others from killing them. Admittedly, the first time he meets a xenomorph is canonically soon after his traumatic execution of three criminal Kryptonians from the Phantom Zone, but he never stops trying to find a way to "live and let live" with xenomorphs.* ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries During a spotlight tie-in Ramjet attempts a coup on Megatron, and spends his time building resources and making plans to overthrow him. Being both a threat to his authority and ultra-secret infiltration plans (which make the Decepticons almost invisible to the humans), Megatron kills him and ends the rebellion easily.** '''You'd Expect:''' Megatron to just recycle or destroy the body, take it back to base like what he did when he crushed Starscream's insurrection.** '''Instead:''' He dismembers Ramjet and dumps his remains in the different areas of earth that Ramjet was manipulating. Giant robot parts are now in very public places exposing the Decepticon activity to the public. Years later the government reverse engineered Ramjet and mass produced drones based on his design.* At one point in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'', Rorschach gets framed for murder, and ends up trapped in a building surrounded by the NYPD. Before storming in, the cops demand that he send out any hostages he's taken.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Rorschach to discard his mask, trenchcoat and hat, either hide them or burn them, and leave the building while posing as a released hostage. You wouldn't think he'd have a problem with dropping his disguise, given that he's been [[spoiler:masquerading as a doomsday sign carrier]] throughout the story.\\'''Instead:''' He tries and fails to fight his way out, gets himself arrested, and is shut up with several criminals he's put in jail, all of whom want to kill him.* In the first storyline of ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'', ComicBook/LexLuthor announces there is a massive planetoid made of Kryptonite headed towards Earth, and in typical Luthor fashion, he blames Superman.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The heroes of Earth double-check this, maybe ask Superman, who by this point has spent several years as a selfless hero and member of the Justice League, if any of this is even remotely true, maybe get Wonder Woman to use her Lasso of Truth on him to make sure.\\'''Instead:''' They instantly believe Luthor, and try to hunt Superman down.* In the last arc of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' an accident apparently kills Old Lace and causes Klara to have a panic attack, which drives her to seal the other Runaways inside their house within a forest of thorny vines.\\'''You'd Expect:''' The other Runaways would try and make Klara feel safe and calm, since her powers only work if she's thinking clearly.\\'''Instead:''' Nico allows Chase to verbally threaten to abuse Klara until she's so frightened that Nico decides that she absolutely has to use magic to tranquilize her, lest Klara's plants attack Chase in defense.* In ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'', Master Vodo-Siosk Baas has a highly talented student named Exar Kun who is also flagrantly [[FantasticRacism bigoted against non-humans]], humiliates his fellow students in sparring sessions, and keeps looking for knowledge about the Sith.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Vodo to check these tendencies as soon as he saw them and perhaps get some help from other Masters.\\'''Instead:''' Vodo worries, but waits until Exar ''really'' crosses the line before trying to teach him a lesson (which doesn't work, because Exar has surpassed him in dueling skill). Exar Kun soon takes a short hop over to the dark side and starts an interstellar conquest. Characters elsewhere in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' have used Vodo as a prime example of Jedi misjudgment.* In the ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'' story ''[[Recap/TintinTheBlueLotus The Blue Lotus]]'', the son of the Chinese resistance movement's leader is discovered to have been poisoned with Rajaijah Juice, a potent hallucinogenic which induces a permanent state of madness.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That he'd be confined to his bedroom, possibly tied to his bed and sedated, and ''definitely'' not allowed access to anything he might use to hurt himself or others.\\'''Instead:''' He's allowed to wander around the house, unsupervised, and ''carrying a huge scimitar''. This results in him nearly killing Tintin when he wakes up at the house, and then almost doing the same to Snowy when his father fails to take the hint the first time around. * Halfway through ''Franchise/{{Asterix}} and the Falling Sky'', an alien spacecraft (yes, really) lands in the Gaulish village, incinerating Cacofonix's hut as it does so. Near the end of the story, said aliens have left, and another, friendlier alien wipes the memory of the villagers, who then see Cacofonix's destroyed hut and immediately assume that Fulliautomatix and Unhygenix are the culprits.\\'''You'd Expect:''' Fulliautomatix and/or Unhygenix to point out that since Cacofonix's singing is so bad that it can literally cause thunderstorms, chances are he unwittingly summoned one, a stray lightning bolt set his hut on fire, and he just doesn't want to admit what happened. Heck, this would also explain the sudden fog that popped up (actually a result of the amnesia ray) moments beforehand.\\'''Instead:''' They deny responsibility, but in an obviously half-hearted way that fails to convince anyone they're not the culprits. As a result, they both end up gagged and tied to a tree at the end-of-story banquet, a fate usually reserved for Cacofonix himself.* ''ComicBook/JokersLastLaugh'': The Joker has finally been sent to a real prison, Slabside Penitentiary, nicknamed "The Slab".\\'''What You'd Expect:''' Even though the Joker is serving time in a real prison and not [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum]], the staff should still realize he's still volatile and dangerous, and hence not do anything that'd provoke him into going into another rampage.\\'''Instead:''' A doctor, deciding to try to put the fear of God into the Joker, bullshits him into thinking he has cancer. Considering this not only kicks off the story, but the story is itself a freakin' CrisisCrossover that resulted in the Joker putting the entire world in danger and literally moving the Slab to Antarctica, saying this was very ill-advised is a mother of an understatement.* The ''ComicBook/DoubleDuck'' story "Reboot" has quite a few:** The story follows up from "Timecrime", where the leaders of the various criminal organizations the Agency was fighting were captured.\\'''What You'd Expect:''' Given the defeat of the Agency's main enemies, the backers of the Agency would obviously reduce funds but still make sure to keep the Agency efficient enough to prevent new villains from moving in the power vacuum, and keep the best agents operative in case a new enemy becomes as strong as the old ones.\\'''Instead:''' The Agency is disbanded, and everyone's fired.\\'''What's Worse:''' The Organization, the Agency's strongest enemy, is still around, if weakened.** The Direction is formed to replace the Agency.\\'''You'd Expect:''' That the new leader is someone experienced, who'd try and rehire the members of the Agency-especially Kay-K, [[BoxedCrook whose checkered past would give him leverage over her]]. Or, at the very least, for the Direction to act as secret agents.\\'''Instead:''' Wile-Y, the Direction's chief, is "an arrogant paper-pusher with no field experience", he and his new agents have no idea of what secrecy means and think they can counter spies and international crime with e-mails and online petitions, they're trying to expose the real identities of the Agency's operators because they don't think the secrecy is needed, and have pushed Kay back to crime.\\'''What's Worse:''' The ''one'' Agency member they did rehire is the former director Head-H, who betrayed the Agency to remain a spy-and could betray them too, as he despises their methods and wants to stay in charge.** As said above, the Direction is trying to expose the identities of the Agency's operators.\\'''You'd Expect:''' They would leak them to the news or expose them on a website.\\'''Instead:''' They send gophers to contact the Agency's operators and have them aknowledge they're secret agents before releasing their dossiers to the public. The title character (alias DonaldDuck) has of course no trouble convincing the gopher at his home they got the wrong guy.\\'''What's Worse:''' As the Direction has no idea of what secrecy means, the gopher sent to expose Double Duck knows sensitive information that our protagonist gets out of him with ease.\\'''At Least:''' Those informations allow Double Duck to intercept a train filled with illegal advanced munitions.----